In Sermon Illustrations: "Humble Leadership"

Leaders Are Born And Made

Contributed by Tim White on May 7, 2011

LEADERS ARE BORN AND MADE J. Oswald Sanders in his classic “Spiritual Leadership” believes that leaders are both born and made. “While conversion does not normally make leaders of people who would never become such otherwise, Church history teaches that in the hour of full surrender the Holy ...read more

Tags: Leadership General

Denomination: Baptist

Boss: Mark Dever On The Four Aspects Of ...

Contributed by Tim White on May 7, 2011

BOSS: MARK DEVER ON THE FOUR ASPECTS OF LEADERSHIP B=Boss. The leader "reproves, rebukes, and exhorts with all longsuffering and doctrine." There is a delicate balance in local churches between pastoral authority (Hebrews 13) and congregational authority (Matthew 18). The pastors must exercise ...read more

Tags: Leadership General

Denomination: Baptist

The V Formation

Contributed by Tim White on May 9, 2011

I heard Adrian Rogers give this example: "We all have seen Canada Geese fly in their V formation with one leg of the V formation longer than the other leg. Why do they fly in the V formation? The lead goose is making it easier for the other geese who are following his lead. He is moving the wind ...read more

Tags: Leadership General

Denomination: Baptist

Are You Going Deaf?

Contributed by Gordon Curley on Jul 2, 2011

ARE YOU GOING DEAF? Fed up with people telling him he was going deaf, a man went to get his hearing tested. After examining the man, the audiologist place a clock on a desk and asked the man if he could hear it ticking. The man replied; "Yes I can." The audiologist then placed the clock at the ...read more

Tags: Leadership Listening

Denomination: Brethren

Middle Management

Contributed by Sermon Central on Aug 8, 2011

MIDDLE MANAGEMENT Cyril Barber, in his commentary on Nehemiah, transfers this principle into all of life; "Middle management involves being able to translate the ideals of one’s superiors into practice and, at the same time, knowing how to motivate one’s subordinates. It necessitates keeping ...read more

Scripture: Mark 3:13-19

Tags: Leadership General

Loyalty And The Promotional Bottleneck

Contributed by Sermon Central on Aug 8, 2011

LOYALTY AND THE PROMOTIONAL BOTTLENECK Peter Drucker gave this warning to those who would push back this principle, "Contrary to popular legend, subordinates do not, as a rule, rise to position and prominence over the prostrate bodies of incompetent bosses. If their boss is not promoted, they will ...read more

Scripture: Mark 3:13-19

Tags: Leadership General

Picking The Wrong Door

Contributed by Sermon Central on Aug 31, 2011

PICKING THE WRONG DOOR Stuart Briscoe, in his book Everyday Discipleship for Ordinary People, tells the story about a fellow pastor who was officiating at the funeral of a war veteran. The dead man’s military friends wanted to have a part in the service at the funeral home, so they requested that ...read more

Scripture: 1 Peter 5:1-5

Tags: Leadership General

The Clarence Principle

Contributed by Sermon Central on Sep 7, 2011

THE CLARENCE PRINCIPLE That's what spiritual maturity is--It's not just being a Christian for a little while. It's being able to discern the difference between right and wrong, because you have practiced applying the principles of God's Word in your every-day life. It's being able to discern the ...read more

Scripture: 1 Peter 5:1-4

Tags: Leadership General

Leaders At The Poles

Contributed by Sermon Central on Sep 7, 2011

LEADERS AT THE POLES In his book, Leading at the Edge, Dennis Perkins contrasts the leadership values of two different explorers: Earnest Shackleton and Vilhjalmur Stefansson. In 1914, Shackleton led a daring expedition to reach Antarctica in the South. A year earlier, Stefansson led an expedition ...read more

Scripture: 1 Peter 5:1-4

Tags: Leadership General

Abraham Lincoln: Malice Toward None

Contributed by Michael Mcbrien on Jan 10, 2012

ABRAHAM LINCOLN: MALICE TOWARD NONE Abraham Lincoln, America's most beloved president, was anything but beloved while he was in office. The South hated him. The anti-war activists hated him. Democrats hated him, calling him a widow-maker. The media ridiculed his eyes, looks, and body, calling him ...read more

Tags: Leadership General

Denomination: Baptist

Lao Tzu Said This Of A Leader: "A Leader Is ...

Contributed by Davon Huss on Jan 30, 2012

Lao Tzu said this of a leader: "A leader is best when people barely know that he exists. He is not so good when people obey and ...read more

Tags: Leadership General

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

The Success Of John Inglefant

Contributed by Perry Greene on Jan 10, 2013

THE SUCCESS OF JOHN INGLEFANT Many years ago in England a book was published entitled, John Inglefant. The book was a flop. Only 100 copies could be disposed of, and 60 of those were given to the author. One day William Gladstone, Prime Minister of Britain, was to sit for a photograph. To make the ...read more

Tags: Leadership General

Denomination: Independent/Bible

Humorous Hospital Charts

Contributed by Sermon Central on May 23, 2013

HUMOROUS HOSPITAL CHARTS I came across some notes supposedly found on hospital charts, and I thought you might enjoy them as I did: • The patient refused autopsy. • Note: Patient recovering from forehead cut. Patient became very angry when given an enema by mistake. • Patient has chest pain if she ...read more

Scripture: Exodus 18:1-27

Tags: Leadership General

Tozer On Ambition To Lead  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jun 8, 2013

A. W. Tozer said, "A true and safe leader is likely to be one who has no desire to lead, but is forced into a position of leadership by the inward pressure of the Holy Spirit and the press of the external situation." He continued to elaborate, "I think there was hardly a great leader from Paul to ...read more

Scripture: 1 Timothy 3:1-13

Tags: Leadership General

It Is Better To Train Ten People Than To Do The ...  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Dec 16, 2001

It is better to train ten people than to do the work of ten people. ...read more

Tags: Gifts Leadership, Leadership General, Workplace

Wear The Pants  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Sep 7, 2011

WEAR THE PANTS Levi-Strauss recently ran an ad campaign that targeted men for a line of Dockers pants (June 2011). Maybe you've seen some of the ads. One of them was called a "MAN-ifesto," and the script went like this: "Once upon a time, men wore the pants, and wore them well. Women rarely had ...read more

Scripture: 1 Peter 5:1-4

Tags: Men, Leadership, Biblical, Leadership General

Hero Vs Hero Maker

Contributed by Martin Spoelstra on Jun 28, 2018

What does it mean to be a hero maker? A hero maker is a leader who shifts from being the hero to making others the hero in God's unfolding story. Real hero makers first die to any vision of personal glory. The dying involves a very real transition, one of grief and loss of ever becoming that ...read more

Scripture: John 14:12, Matthew 6:33

Tags: Leadership, Disciple Making, Leadership Training

Denomination: Presbyterian/Reformed

The Different Faces Of Praise  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Mar 18, 2005

THE DIFFERENT FACES OF PRAISE Roberto Benigni is an Italian guy who won an "Oscar" in 1998 for best actor in the film "Life Is Beautiful." I didn’t watch the Academy Awards that year, but I read that upon hearing his name called, Roberto Benigni leaped to his feet ... threw his arms in the air ...read more

Scripture: Mark 11:1-11

Tags: Easter Palm Sunday, Expectation, Humble, Palm Sunday

Staring Down The Critic's Barrel!" Proverbs 9: ...  PRO

Contributed by Mark Brunner on Jan 17, 2005

“Staring Down the Critic’s Barrel!” Proverbs 9: 7-10 Key verse(s): 8b:“. . . rebuke a wise man and he will love you.” The Bible tells us that “rebuke a wise man and he will love you.” Love? What happened to getting the emotional revenge that is so satisfying? There doesn’t seem to be a lot of ...read more

Scripture: Proverbs 9:7-10, Psalm 82:3-4, Philippians 2:13-14

Tags: Grace, Leadership General

Denomination: Lutheran

Fred Smith, In His Book Learning To Lead Wrote ...  PRO

Contributed by Denn Guptill on Oct 23, 2000

Fred Smith, in his book Learning to Lead wrote “The shepherd or pastor’s ultimate goal is not to please the sheep but to please God.” Cecil Paul the Author of Passages of a Pastor says that pastors need to free themselves from and I quote “The Tyranny of Evaluation.” Tim Hansel writing in his ...read more

Tags: Leadership General, Gifts Leadership, Doing God's Will

Denomination: Wesleyan